Junk Journal With Me: Hello there! Welcome to my blog. This blog was created long back but has rarely been used since creation. Of late I had been thinking of restarting this blog; this time with junk journal. Journaling has been my childhood passion. Those old books in my childhood used to be full of childish arts and crafts. I did not know they actually bore a name. In fact, I had no idea about the word ‘junk journal until a few months ago. One day I was randomly searching YouTube for ‘notebook decorations,’ and all of a sudden that particular word caught my attention. I began researching on it, and with time I became more and more addicted so much so, that I began to forget to watch the long list of movies and web series. So,
What s a junk journal? Why it is so-called?
There is no proper definition of a junk journal. Really. So let us give it one. A junk journal is a journal, as the name suggests, or notebook that is stashed with junkies. However, that does not define all of it. So let us try another one. A recycled handmade diary containing one or more signatures, and with loads of crafts created with mixed media which may be used for various purposes is called a junk journal. In a broader sense, apart from just journaling, it serves infinite purposes according to our intentions.
What is my background for journaling?
When I first began to dabble in junk journal, it was like haphazard puzzle to me, but amazing at the same time. There were so many things that I at once wanted to put down at one place. The situation became overwhelming. At that time I had no real idea of what should I keep to recreate, and what to be consigned to the bin. There were so many new words for me - ephemera, embellishments etc. I found people buying stuff for this purpose. I had no extra penny for that. It made me sad. To cut a long story short, I have been trying to become self-sufficient with what I have, and today, here I have come to share all those that I have learnt. My father is an artist and I think it’s the artsy DNA that drew my attention towards this junky world, considering the fact that I am from India, and that about 99.99% of the population here has no idea about what junk journal is all about. I am sure of that. Therefore, I shall be pleased if my words can inspire anyone out there, and prepare her/him to create a junk journal of his/her own, as it has so many facets and because everybody can be an artist. Nothing can go wrong in the endeavour of creating a junk journal.
Why should one create a junk journal?
1. To recycle and make your tiny world beautiful - this phrase may contain a deep message. It is a fact that we, the people from a developing or an under-developed country do not really care to keep our environment clean and safe. We throw polythene wraps on the road, spit on the wall, dump our daily garbage anywhere without conscience; the list just goes on. If we all try to reuse some of the items before dumping them in the bin, that would be good. Mere scraps won’t fetch a price in the market, but that recycled piece, exhibiting the artistic reflection of us may find buyers.
2. To keep things in order - have you ever seen your closet? So many clothes just sit inside for years; clothes that we hardly wear. Yet we don’t intend to give them away. Old magazines and books half-eaten by termites; used buttons, threads, wools, beads, worn out pieces of imitation jewellery, zippers, wires, laces, cards, scrapbook pages, envelops, vintage school notebooks, grocery slips, bags and purses! We can use all these and jot down our memories in a tidy way.
3. It’s fun and your parents never gonna yell at you for making a mess - Most importantly, those who are my type and always get rebuked for making a tidy mess can give the excuse for making a journal by showing how important these things are. Added to this is the huge fun of doing a journal. It is time killing; all the boredom vanishes instantly, and more specifically it is the reflection of ourselves “because, in the end, you’re all you got”.
4. Budget-friendly - And it is obvious. As we are creating something with scraps, glue, pen, colour, thread, needle and scissors, we do not need to spend on anything except time. Of course, there are supplies, which we can grab from the stores, but trust me, as a beginner we don’t have to spend money on that. We can recreate all the things we need. I am very much addicted to junk journals and most of the things I make myself if you ask me.
What to write? What to do with it?
The next big question arises that what is the purposes of making this type of journal. Well, as I have already told, it has many facets. A junk journal can be used in as many ways as we can think of - as a simple journal (i.e. diary) with more graphics, colours and tags, or as a themed notebook for travel logs, planners, recipes etc. It can also be a gift as a gorgeous piece of art. Alternatively, we can even sell it. Therefore, it depends entirely on us what do we intend to do with it. And the best part probably is that we don’t need to follow any guidelines. In this magic world, everything is beautiful so long it soothes our eyes and soul. It will be our treasure book. It is totally up to us how we want to make junk journal.
How to fill it?
Many people use it for traditional journaling, though you can choose your own theme. I have found that people are mostly fond of vintage journals; so is I. Tea-dyed or coffee-dyed paper, along with distress colours work great for this purpose. Some all-time favourite themes are gothic, underwater, mermaid, festivals, school, travel, ocean, forest, flowers, birds etc. Some people also like to make a notebook by engaging two or three colours. I wish to create some theme-based junk journals too, and I intend to post all those themes collected by me in the next blog. You see, choosing a theme might be very helpful at times for we can properly gather all the supplies we need from our haphazard junks. It is a good way to organize our ledger, though, for a beginner, it may seem a little tough. Nevertheless, soon I will show you how to make a junk journal along with junk journal page ideas, cover decoration and junk journal supplies. There is a lot more to come. See you soon!
